Hallowed Hill

A poem wherein all topological and geographical references are metaphorical. The thought that traversed my mind while I was writing was the contrast between the children demonstrating about climate change and the Gilets Jaunes in France protesting about nothing at all and then being copied by British extreme right-wingers!

Hallowed Hill

Humble they hide on hallowed hill From where they see their lives unfurled Like flags that flutter at winter’s will Ideas exist in this imaginary world Phantom farmers reap their crops Where dreams are made and time stands still Their thoughts revolve like spinning tops

Let us grant to them perpetual peace That stays beyond all human reach Where warming winds will never cease To blow across some sand-strewn beach The flotsam and jetsam of learnèd life Which newly grants itself a lease To seek to combat all human strife

As those below in that vast valley Of form like fearsome feeding trough Where time has taken a terrible tally Even hardy beings have endured enough They wish to manifest themselves no more And hide amidst street and shady alley In sordid cities rotten to their core

Be not by dread dismay downtrodden You who would universe unite Pound the paths of pastures sodden Prepare yourselves for peaceful fight Whence beauteous blood of logic flows To grant ignorance its Armageddon By knowledge that no boundary knows

And when the peace is finally won Enlightened be those who seek the truth Shadowed by silent setting sun Descending ranks of sallow youth That future of all humankind Healthy bodies in haste that run Down hallowed hill to healthy mind